Swallow it Down

by Addison Cain

I’ve seen the way he looks at me.

The Captain. The unquestioned leader of this ship.

A ship I wish to be free of. A man I want to be as far away from as my legs might carry me.

The society he’s designed, the rules, the endless battle of wills...

Yes, I’ve seen the way he looks at me.

I’ve felt his fingertips brush my skin. Heard his laugh. Experienced his smile.

One that’s only for me, and only in secret.

And I know what he wants.

He told me himself that everyone has to pay; that all who survived the fall of civilization were culpable. That’s how he justifies the decisions he’s made, the necessary evils he allows to take place on this ship… all in the name of a greater good.

And it’s why I resist the starved way his gaze drinks me down. Why I can’t be had at any price.

SWALLOW IT DOWN is an angst-ridden, enemies to lovers romance, boasting a strong female lead and a swoon worthy hero. This standalone features an HEA that will keep you turning the page all night.

Genres: Dark, Dystopia, Enemies To Lovers, Dark Romance, Romance, Post Apocalyptic, Abuse

206 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 12, 2020

About the author

USA TODAY bestselling author and Amazon Top 25 bestselling author, Addison Cain is best known for her dark romances, smoldering paranormal suspense, and twisted alien worlds. Her antiheroes are not always redeemable, her lead females stand fierce, and nothing is ever as it seems.

Deep and sometimes heart wrenching, her books are not for the faint of heart. But they are just right for those who enjoy unapologetic bad boys, aggressive alphas, and a hint of violence in a kiss.

Visit her website: addisoncain.com

Sign up for her newsletter: http://bit.ly/AddisonCainNewsletter

Amazon: amzn.to/2ryj4LH
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/AddisonCain
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Facebook Author Page: www.facebook.com/AddisonlCain/
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Don’t miss these exciting titles by Addison Cain!

The Golden Line

The Alpha’s Claim Series:
Born to be Bound
Born To Be Broken
Reborn
Stolen
Corrupted (coming soon)

Wren’s Song Series:
Branded
Silenced

The Irdesi Empire Series:
Sigil
Sovereign
Que (coming soon)

Cradle of Darkness
Catacombs
Cathedral
The Relic

A Trick of the Light Duet:
A Taste of Shine
A Shot in the Dark

Historical Romance:
Dark Side of the Sun

Horror:
The White Queen
Immaculate

Reviews

[Birjis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Addison cain makes impossible stories with impassable characters. I'm still reeling with how the story developed and finished.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, life barely exists and those live they do the unmentionables to survive. Men has become cruel and women can survive only by using her lady parts. Eugenia was once a medical student with bright aspirations for future. When the world was bombed her only goal was to survive the harsh calamities. Missing all the basic human necessities she believes there is one good place to live in this now barren world. But before she could move any furthur she was betrayed by her travel companion. Now abroad a ship which can be described as Noah's arc for it had all the missing luxuries of the human world. All would have been easier and finer if not for the captain of the ship with whom she fights tooth and nail.
Captain Aaron is many things and not what he shows. He was cold, aggressive, unscrupulous, generous, loving, and twisted, his rule on the ship is strict. Eugenia was not ready to accept his cruel dominion. His ideals behind saving the human race was intolerable and Eugenia was stubborn that the ship life was crueler than the outside world. In their battle of will I cannot agree and disagree with them. Reading Aaron's side of approach made me think "yes it's true" and Eugenia's opinion had me nodding "she is right". The situation is of idealistic and realistic.

(Eugenia) "These might just be the cleanest shoes I’ve seen in six years.”
(Aaron) “Your ass is in the air. Unless you’re offering to the panting crowd, you might want to tuck your tail.”

Even their first conversation had them nose to nose battle - one of pride and the other logic. Eugenia and Aaron's relationship was sizzling and combusting. Aaron's decisions and his choices always had a logic but it was hard to accept. Eugenia is a strong heroine and it's easy to like her. Her constant chatter of teaching people of germs on the ship was hilarious and entertaining. In this dystopian world people carry needed possessions in their backpack, what Eugenia carries is two heavy volumes of medical books, her most prized possession.

This book is dark and has gortesque triggers. Read the tale of the captain and his favourite captive. I highly recommend it.

[Isabella. R · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 No Point in Regrets Stars ⭐

Being in the minority of opinion certainly sucks however I had so many mixed feelings whilst reading Swallow it Down and many weren’t good. I had no issues with the premise of the story since post-apocalyptic romances are my weakness, but the heroine did my effing head in. I swear had I been the captain of this ship, I would have thrown her overboard from the very beginning.

The dark ages were back with a vengeance, and City. City was a cesspool. Didn’t matter which one.

The bombs have fallen, and the planet has been ravaged by greed and a need for power. Most have perished from radiation and woman are endangered more then ever. Eugenia has spent the last 6 years surviving, well barely. In search of water and a haven, she broke her own rule by letting another lead her straight to the enemy.

“Well, I’ll be damned. A raffle for pussy. And I will be getting paid. So… back to the statement where I refuse to whore.”

Led to a ship offering the comforts of before is mighty tempting. But everyone now knows that nothing is free. And for Eugenia it would be the cost of her body. Where the crew earn privileges based on their work ethic, the woman are the entertainment. An intelligent woman once studying to be a paediatric doctor, Eugenia cannot fathom this new balance. As for the captain of this ship, there is reason to his madness.

Now I get not wanting to whore oneself. All Eugenia wanted to do was get off the damn boat. But at no point could her pride acknowledge what she was getting in return. Considering the perils she faced for 6 long years, she did not once show an ounce of gratitude, especially since none of the rules seemed to apply to her. As for the supposedly badass Captain Aaron, he was pussy whipped from the beginning.

“You don’t have to love me back. But you do need to understand that I will never let you off this ship. I can’t. The world doesn’t deserve you.”

Unfortunately, the storyline didn’t work for me and I couldn't buy what the author was peddling. The writing was good, the sex hot, yet the circumstances and double standards were beyond belief.

[Jena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not safe. ( this author isn’t safe usually)

-H not celibate after meeting the h. And this was OTT sleazy.

He continued to fuck every female on the ship after meeting and developing feelings for, and making out with the h (he said he fell in love with her early on, but that didn’t stop him. The MCs didn’t have intercourse, but he did take her virginity with his fingers, and they made out).
He was screwing every female on the ship for 6 months, so thats half the book.🙄

The ship had women who were there as sex slaves for the 300men living on board, and he was the captain.
He had all the women (about 20-some) share his bed in a weekly rotation. Some of the them were not willing, so that’s rape. How lovely.

Imagine, this H was chasing the h during the day, fucking ow at night, and these sex slaves would give the h sexual advice- his likes and dislikes, and his sexual habits. The guy apparently had a cock so big that they all had trouble fitting him in. Lube was necessary, some girls bled even when they weren’t a virgin, and some needed to ice their privates after a night with him. All of this was discussed with the h. How lovely, like wtf.🙄

He apparently remains faithful after intercourse.🙄


This was an annoying book, mainly due to the bitchy, snarky, self righteous h. I didn’t even care that the H was a huge manwhore. I just wanted someone to throw her off the ship. When he smacked her, I wanted him to do it again.
Another annoying thing, all his whoring around is made to seem like it was a chore for him. Something he didn’t want to do but had to. That’s a laugh. He hated having a different beautiful woman every night - said no man ever. 🙄


I didn’t care that this book had sex slaves, that these ladies were held against their will. How stupidly unrealistic though for the h to have remained a virgin for 6 years🙄, when every female in this books been raped or something else.
Anyway, I knew going in that this was a post-apocalypse dark romance so I withheld judgement. I kinda liked the world building in this book.


DNF 60%
Was I suppose to believe this guys obsession/love for the h when he’s still fucking other people?😂
Didn’t ring true to me.🤷🏻‍♀️would someone like this - couldn’t even keep it in his pants during the honey moon phase - remain faithful with a ship full of beautiful sex slaves, when shes old and saggy? 😂
hA yeah right🙄.
That’s why I DNF it. Fake ass love story.

[Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded down because of some annoying typos and language style.

On the whole, this is the most enjoyable release from Cain I've had in a while. It's short - only 55k - but at least it's a standalone, so it's not going to form part of some never-ending abandoned series somewhere down the line.

Swallow it Down is set in the near future, in a post-apocalyptic dystopian world that's the result of a nuclear war started by some unnamed moron of a President. (Wonder who that could be...) Most of humanity is dead and the US is a sandy wasteland, roamed by savage men who rape women to pieces in their frenzies.

Enter Eugenia. Before the bombs fell, she was training to be a doctor at Harvard Med School, with a focus on paediatrics. Now she's just another girl fighting for survival. She's partnered with a guy called John, whom she found dying of thirst at the side of the road. He tricks her into going to a place called City - an abandoned cruise ship moored in a lake - and sells her to their Captain, who takes her in and adds her to the collection of women that serve on the ship.

There's a complex system set up by the Captain. Basically, all the women are worth a certain number of tickets, which they earn through prostitution with the men. They're free to leave after that. All the men are trying to save up tickets to even reach Level 15 in the first place, which is where the women are housed.

Eugenia is a virgin - but an experienced one - and she absolutely refuses to have sex with the men. Partly that's because the Captain, Aaron, put a 20-million ticket price tag on her, and she knows she'd have to screw ten men a night for the next two years to earn that kind of money. Aaron is a little violent to her at the start, smacking her when she gets mouthy, but he gets obsessed with her fairly quickly. And, in a somewhat un-Cain-like twist, there's no rape. Eugenia refuses to have sex with Aaron or anybody else, and nobody makes her.

The flipside of that is that there is a LOT of OW action. Aaron continues to meet with OW after developing a (non-sexual) connection with Eugenia. Ordinarily this would be a hard line for me, but I knew what to expect because I've read Cain's other works, and also he stops all OW contact once he actually has sex with Eugenia - even though she tries to push him in their direction.

I actually really liked Aaron. He's kind of messed up in the way only a Cain hero can be, but he's also sweet and comparatively likeable. After Jules, he's my favourite Cain guy. Eugenia is a bit more complex, but I sympathised with her obsessive drive for freedom.

There is a romantic HEA. I did enjoy the plot, but I feel like towards the end, the chapters felt more like random fragments than a cohesive storyline. One moment, she was normal, then in the next chapter she was heavily pregnant, with no build-up in between.

The language also bugged me a lot. A lot of sentences are simply grammatically incorrect - missing verbs, etc. A participle is not a substitute for an actual verb. There were also quite a few typos.

That said, I liked the book in general. Now let's hope she actually continues some of her extant series...

[Blog] - [Bookstagram]

[Bex (Beckie Bookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was really intriguing and ever so different, set against a post-apocalyptic backdrop our girl Eugenia a former pre-med student is just trying to keep her self alive in a world gone to rack and ruin.
Every day is a constant struggle for survival in this new bleak existence.
Betrayed by a travelling companion she finds herself indentured and aboard a ship.
The captain here has his own set of rules that must be adhered too or suffer the consequences.
Now a new girl on deck 15 she will need to earn her place and freedom with whatever assets she possesses.
This was well written and very gripping it is told completely from Eugenia’s POV and definitely showcases her internal struggles with all that is occurring.
The captain Aaron was a complicated individual his ideals seemed completely whacked but when you looked at all this on a deeper level you could actually see the logic behind a lot of his decisions.
He made the hard choices others couldn’t and made no apology’s for them and in his own way he was also serving his own strange sort of personal penance.
He was a hard man and was certainly no hero, in fact, some of his actions were the exact opposite.
Eugenia was also flawed she was majorly stubborn even at times discounting logic when held up against her own mulish pride.
In fact, that ego and her unrealistic ideals were actually one of her biggest faults.
She was like a dog with a bone and it was a constant battle of wills between her and Aaron.
Sometimes it even felt that the winning mattered more to her than the end result and the constant sparing with Aaron definitely lit a fire hot in her blood.
Personally I totally got where Aaron was coming from his pragmatic approach was sensible and realistic while Eugenia in my opinion was still wearing those rose-tinted glasses and behaving like a total idealist.
This is predominately an enemies to lovers romance that due to the setting and situation is actually quite dark in places.
If your looking for a ribbons and roses romance this isn’t it this is so much darker and grittier and the tone of this reflects all that realism.
This deals with some harsh realities and dark situations and because of all that I thought the ending here felt authentic and real.
It just fitted and a HEA was achieved without damaging the credibility of the narrative.
Both finding some solace and happiness in a reality that is far from ideal but helping to ease the path ahead while still attempting to build a better future for the next generation.
The finish and final resolution between Eugenia and Aaron here just felt honest and real.
I found this one ever so interesting and it definitely made me think about all the what-ifs.
I voluntarily reviewed a copy of Swallow It Down.



Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com

[❤️Emma Book Lover ❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

This is the first book I have read by this author, why? Because I was not brave enough , considering her omegaverse series with no hea, raping, cheating and abuse. HEA is a must for me, I cannot conceive the couples i m reading about to not live happily ever after. When i saw this book, it picked my interest straight away and I bit my tongue and gave it a shot.

It is not a dark book. Yes it does have dub-con, manipulation, slavery, abduction , but in my opinion this is a 6 on the dark books scale.

Post-apocalyptic, distopyan books are a guilty pleasure of mine. The earth how we know it ended 6 years ago after the nuclear bombs were dropped.

Eugenia was an aspiring medical student then, but every dream , ambition she had went to dust.
Now, 6 years later, she is fighting for survival, looking for a good place , with water that is not contaminated, with people who don’t want to rape, beat or abuse her.

This new world its like a throwback to ancient times, when woman were used for one purpose only: breeding and sex.

The majority of the book takes place on a cruise ship- now transformed into a small city with over 300 individuals on it. The captain of the ship is Aaron. He has rules , conditions, resources and offers the people onboard a chance to get off if they want so.
Level 15 is a place where Eugenia is placed on her arrival. Its a place where women have to entertain mens who earn with tickets the access to this level. Eugenia doesn’t take easy the fact that her life will be whoring herself to earn tickets to get off the ship. She fights and resist for a long time.

I liked Eugenia, she is intelligent, witty, resourceful and with a strong personality. She never had the “betraying body syndrome “ (she is a virgin and she wanted to remain like that until she found the one), she spoke her mind, she made friends and tried to convince everyone that off the ship is the best. As I said, I genuinely liked her, but When you face the destruction of earth, your values, principles cannot remain as they used to be. She wanted to be like before, she wanted to find goodness and life, and I think she was naive to think so, especially after everything she saw in 6 years.

Arron , the captain, he is cunning, manipulative, very intelligent, he started the game with Eugenia and he won it . On one side, I admired him , his logic and what he created, I actually understand perfectly why he did everything he did, his vision is ruthless but so necessary in post apocalyptic times. On the other side it was so wrong on so many levels. Aaron is not a bad man, he is a man who wants human race to survive.

As a couple they were entertaining as fuck. The banter? Priceless! Soo so good. He loves Eugenia, is gentle, caring and even if he proved to her that he is right about everything is a heartbreaking way he did it so because he genuinely cared and wanted the best for her.

Overall, refreshing idea and good story line. I am not sure if I can call it a Hea, maybe a HFN.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/08/2022
Audio: Duet narration!!! Marcio Catalano is so so good in this!! Highly recommend this book and audio for some depraved end on the world stuff

Woooooow. That was better than I could have imagined. I've not read dystopian romance for a while now because I often find the lack of world building disappointing with more focus on the romance and "oh by the way the world has ended" tacked on.

Addison Cain perfectly builds this strange new world aboard a ship but instead of info dumping which can get tiring to read she teases out the details and reveals them to you in sometimes shocking ways.

This book is absolutely not for those who don't enjoy dark tales but I will say while it's quite dark it's also a great story of survival and making sometimes tough sacrifices in a time when the world has gone feral. This book will absolutely make you question what you would do if the world ended, what could you accept?

The Captain was *chefs kiss*. He's terrifying, sexy, cruel, relentless and has to make decisions that would turn most into blubbering messes. He's definitely a complex character to puzzle out and I loved how Eugenia dealt with him even if sometimes I wanted to shake her and remind her the damn world has ended.

My only gripe is I wanted more, so much more! I could have stayed in this world for hundreds of pages more because I was so fascinated by this world and the characters in it. I wish we'd learned a bit more about the Captain but in a way it would have been inconsequential although if the author wanted to write a prequel on the early days of the boat I would not object...Or another book haha

[Emy Smallworlds · Rating 1 out of 5]

Would've given it zero if i could've.

The description BOASTS a strong female lead..
That's a joke. She's strong till he breaks her.
She's strong till she gives up every single principal of hers.
And then she's in love in a toxic relationship WHICH SHE HATES HERSELF BECAUSE.
He forces raping of women for supposed 'breeding', she hates him cries herself dead, then returns to him. He's sad, miserable when she leaves him but he doesn't change a thing.
Merely sad cause she's sad. Not because.. You know.. RAPING women thing.
I'm disgusted.

[Sophia Triad · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You’re an evil man.”
Yet saying so tore her apart. It dragged her shoulders down, stole her gaze from his. It left her sitting up in bed with her knees under her chin as she stared at a boring bit of cruise ship art on the far wall.
Dragging red curls behind her shoulders, he spoke gently.
“Make me a better one.”
God, his moves on the game board were expert, Eugenia afraid he might actually win.
“I can’t.”
“Then take me the way I am.”

I shouldn't have loved this book...

[Melanie A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOLY CRAP! I am emotionally scarred in the best possible way. This was amazing. Talk about a mind f*ck. I HIGHLY recommend.

[benevolent bastard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really tempted to give a 4 ⭐️ but I’m giving it a 3.5!
Well, this sure was interesting.
I’m happy Birjis recommended this highly unusual book to me that’s right up my alley! (Thank you Birjis!)

Addison Cane sure did introduce us to a very unredeemable hero who has the word asshole written all over him. From the things he says, to the way he runs his ship. God I hated him at times.
Good thing he loved Miss Eugenia unconditionally so it was forgiven a tad.

[Vellini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Addison Cain knows the way to my dark romance lover heart, a strong heroine who isn't controled by her libido and a villainous hero with no redeeming quality except for his unconditional love for the heroine. And of course a HEA where the villain gets the girl. PERFECT!

[Serial Romance Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 OH-MY-GOD STARS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️! I devoured this book and was so sad when it ended. This book has a post-apocalyptic/dystopian setting. Eugenia has been surviving on inhospitable earth where little grows and women, supplies and water are coveted and in shortage. Society has fallen apart. Eugenia’s bright future as a Harvard Medical student was cut short 6 years ago and now her sole focus is survival. She is both idealistic and realistic, impulsive yet strategic. She is a bit of a conundrum and I love her character. She’s a hot AF redhead.

Aaron is the enigmatic captain of a cruise ship on the Mississippi which is its own self-contained oasis, but Aaron’s rules and consequences don’t sit so well with Eugenia. Aaron justifies it all by saying he’s trying to save humanity, but is it ethical?

Eugenia grapples with both her conscience and her growing feelings for Aaron. There is lots of chemistry and Aaron basically takes what he wants. Trigger warning: there is sexual assault, rape, physical abuse, and even genital mutilation. Much of it occurs off-page except what happens between the two MC’s. I loved this unexpected story and I’m so grateful to Mrs. Cain for releasing it so I could be distracted by it during this trying time.

[Lucie V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

✅ Post-apocalyptic world
✅ Characters
✅ Pace
🆗 Plot
🆗 Romance
❗️❗️ Psychological abuse, murder (not graphic), explicit mention of exchanging sex for favors, mentions of rape and torture

3.5 stars

This is a very quick read that overall was very entertaining.

This story happens in a post-apocalyptic world where everything has been destroyed 6 years ago by nuclear wars. Resources are scarce, and there are no laws left for the survivors. Humans are cruel and violent, and women can survive and access resources only by trading their own bodies. Eugenia was a pre-med student before all went to hell, and has been surviving for the last few years relying on her wits and luck mostly. After being betrayed by her travel companion, she finds herself on a cruise ship that has all the luxuries she could ask for AC, food, water, electricity, shower. The few women on this ship are given all the care they need, but can’t leave the ship until they “pay their debts”. The captain decides how many coupons each woman is worth, and the only way for them to earn coupons is to “entertain” the male population of the ship.

“You should be more careful with my things. That’s another five-thousand tickets.”
Hand to her breasts, positive her heartrate was in the unsafe levels, she snarled, “Fuck your tickets, and fuck you too!”
“Anything else you’d like to add?”
“Yes, in fact. I was offered five-thousand tickets last night— the going rate, if I understand correctly— if only I’d bend over the table and take it from some guy named Amos.” Crossing her arms under her breasts, she faced him, wet and sweaty, soap bubbles up her arms. “I’d like to think sex is worth more than a single plate. Not that I give a fuck about your ticket scale, but wouldn’t you consider your pricing a bit askew?”
“It was a very pretty plate.”

Captain Aaron is cold and ruthless, yet he does truly believe that his system is what’s best for everyone, and one might agree when the options are to stay on the ship and entertain men, or risk your life every day in the wild, and risk being attacked, raped, and killed by unscrupulous men. In his defense, the women are not raped. The only sexual intercourses that happen are the ones that the women agree to, still, Aaron definitely fits into the anti-hero category more than the “hero” one.

“Well, Neil, if I didn’t hate that you were trying to buy me instead of genuinely get to know me, I would give you that kiss. But hey, love is dead. I was sold by an idiot I found wandering the road with no pack. That’s mercy. And him being chained in the engine room— or so I have been told— is karma.”

Eugenia holds onto her hope that somewhere, a better place, a place “like before” still exists and that she will be able to find it, and to find a semblance of “normal life”. She does not intend to stay on the ship, even less to entertain men and sell her body to pay the ridiculous debt that the Captain decided she owed him. Eugenia is stubborn, and strongly believes that life on the ship is worse than in the wild, because of the whole “indenture/sex trade” system and I found myself agreeing with Eugenia with all my heart, but at the same time, my rational side had to admit that Aaron was also partly right and that the life he provided on the ship, while not being perfect, ideal, or very respectful of women, was probably safer and better than fighting every day to find scraps of food, a few drops of potable water, and also risking encountering men that would not hesitate to rape and abuse women. The story is told from Eugenia’s POV, and I love how we could see her struggle all throughout the book, she stood up for her beliefs and did not back down after a few days and a few nice smiles.

“I gotta get back to Table #2. Screw intellectualism. Who needs education and a functioning brain when they were born with tits and an ass?”

Eugenia and Aaron’s relationship is full of hatred and sexual tension. From their very first encounter, they are at each other’s throats and their witty and snarky conversations were very entertaining. I didn’t like Aaron at first, even though he was logical and rational, I had trouble accepting that he was growing on me. Eugenia is a strong-willed and very resilient heroine, I really liked her from the start and she made me laugh a few times with her sarcasm and her talk about germs and STD to try to dissuade the men from wanting to have sex with her. I was not sure at all how romance could develop between them, and it was not the best romance I’ve read, nor the more elaborate, but it made sense enough for it to be satisfying, and to wrap up the story in a nice and satisfying way.


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[PeaceOfGod]

🚩Skipping.


Rude asshole H.
Virgin h.
Biggest Manwhore.
H continues sleeping with OW after developing emotional connection with h.(deal breaker for me😟)
He is faithful after having sex with h.
Feminists will burn him alive.
He does NOT believe in gender equality.
Forced love.
h was engaged to OM and she loved the OM , but in post-apocalyptic time i think he died or fled, anyways, there isin't much mention of him so....
She doesn't like him almost till the end.
She doesn't admit that she loves him , and i don't think she actually does.
The H is okay with that . He is like........i'll take whatever little pieces of you i can get.😑🙄
I have read about bad twisted emotionally manipulative Heroes. Like Celia Crown
But the thing here is , he is a cheating bastard and not celibate.

[JD (on semi-hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six years after a nuclear war started by a "shit president" with an "untrained private police" and an army he unleashed on his own citizens (although this is clearly and accurately Trump, the saddest part of this book is that it describes so many current heads of state), former Harvard med school student Eugenia is just trying to survive when she's taken aboard a cruise ship run by Aaron. The rest of the book details their push-pull relationship as she fights against the elaborate prostitution system he's set up that will supposedly ensure the survival of humankind (or something like that; more on this later) and their growing feelings for each other.

This is a difficult book to review because it contains this author's trademark strengths and weaknesses. Like many of her other works, Swallow It Down is an uneasy generic blend of sci-fi (dystopian and post-apocalyptic) and erotica (enemies-to-lovers and D/s). It features a strong, intelligent, idealistic h who desperately wants to believe in a better world despite the end-of-days horrors she's witnessed, and a ruthless, half-mad, hyper-cynical H who exerts an iron will over the people he rules -- softening only for the one woman who touches a part of himself he thought was long buried under a cold-blooded survivalist facade. In addition, this is written in Ms. Cain's signature style: very descriptive in some places (she particularly appeals to the senses: you can taste the dank water and feel the heat on your neck) and lacking detail in others (how the ship is kept in working order really isn't explained satisfactorily). Finally, although this is a stand-alone (for which I was grateful since I don't have it in me right now to begin another intricate series), it does contain one of the author's hurried and abrupt non-endings. I wouldn't call it an HEA or even necessarily an HFN, but the central line of action is more or less complete and I don't see a sequel in the offing (perhaps this narrative structure reflects the uncertainty of our own times).

So, I would say that if you like the positives and don't mind the negatives I list above, you probably will enjoy this. This wasn't quite as "dark" as Ms. Cain's other novels in the sense that Aaron doesn't rape Eugenia and never actually harms her; other scenes, however, contain graphic descriptions of violence against women that are difficult to read. Certainly, her books are compelling and, despite my objection to some content, I always find myself immersed in them.

My problems with this particular book are two-fold and they did affect my rating. The first is the depiction of Aaron. The entire story is told exclusively from Eugenia's point of view and, thus, we don't really get to know Aaron. Though we later learn a lot about his family and background, our knowledge of him remains superficial (more a collection of facts than anything else): he never articulates his subjectivity and we're not privy to his thought process.

This hole (for want of a better word) at the center of the story has larger implications for its themes. As with many of her other novels, Ms. Cain uses the very hoary "good-girl/bad-boy" trope as a vehicle for the most common post-apocalyptic debate: altruism (Eugenia) vs. utilitarianism (Aaron). In other words, the central question is: what would you do to ensure the survival of the species and, given the stakes, is there anything you shouldn't do?

This fascinating dilemma (that I devoutly hope we never have to face) lies at the heart of Ms. Cain's novel as Eugenia and Aaron -- when they're not sniping at each other or having copious amounts of sex -- take opposing sides. Eugenia, who was studying to be a doctor, desperately wants to use her skills to help people survive in autonomous units across the globe. Aaron, on the other hand, believes that the survival of the species depends on isolating his small band from outside dangers and enforcing a rigid set of rules designed to keep the peace and to ensure that the relatively small number of women on board are impregnated (even if it's against their will). Although Ms. Cain presents both Eugenia's and Aaron's points of view, ultimately she seems to plump for Aaron's position that safety is worth any loss of freedom and this is where she lost me.

At the end of the book, Ms. Cain says she wrote this in three weeks and, given the multiple gaps in logic, it shows. Although Aaron claims that his absolute rule is best for their society, there are so many holes in his argument that getting more access to his inner thought process would really have helped here. In the interest of brevity, I'm going to describe two problems I had. First, he divides the women into two groups: prostitutes and mothers (although the prostitutes will ultimately become mothers). The catch is is that since there are many more men than women, no one can get attached to another since the women need to be "shared." Uhm, okay, so leaving aside the fact that it's actually men who should be shared in this scenario since one man can get many women pregnant, what exactly are these people working and sacrificing for if they have no ties to anyone? Ms. Cain tries to make this palatable, but I didn't get it. I suppose you might be motivated if you thought your species was going to die off, but people usually need a more personal, individual stake and there simply wasn't one here. And I really, really, really didn't understand either the purpose of the prostitution or Aaron's penchant for killing and maiming people who don't abide by the rules or all that wasting of food. It seems to me that if humankind is at a premium, you wouldn't want to waste even more lives -- or food. Just sayin'.

The second problem with the book's logic is that it blames the globe's current crisis on megalomaniac fascism. Yet, Aaron's attitude and approaches are really not distinct from the man who started the war. To Ms. Cain's credit, she does raise this issue, but then quickly buries it with a hurried "but Aaron's different." Well, actually, no, he's not. And you cannot claim that the world would have been better off -- I mean really better off, as in no extinction-level war -- without fascism and then turn around and say that humanity's survival depends on fascism. This line of thinking was simply incoherent to me. And it was equally incoherent at the end of the book since Aaron and Eugenia's monogamous relationship indicates that there's no real reason for that particular rule.

TBH, I really had little respect for Aaron and given all that Eugenia sees him do, I don't really understand how she could have feelings for him -- particularly since this isn't an omegavese situation in which people are ruled by their hormones. While women putting up with the horrors that men do is a common trope in Ms. Cain's universe, I honestly didn't see the point here: humanity could have continued if Eugenia and the other women had simply gotten rid of Aaron and any other uncooperative male and lived on their own with some men to act as protectors/impregnators.

Finally, I want to end with a shout-out and a personal observation. The first is to the reviewer who invoked Snowpiercer Screenplay in describing the cruise ship that is holding some of the last remnants of humanity (the train is organized by class, the ship by gender). I'll also add that Noah's Ark is another apt comparison.

The personal observation has to do with Eugenia's feelings about her fate. Young, a medical student with a bright future as a pediatric surgeon, and about to be married to a fellow doctor when the bombs hit, her rage throughout is palatable:

Eugenia’s was sheer stubbornness and an undying sense of anger that—thanks to a shit president and a fucked-up world—all her dreams had been blown to ash. All her hard work, all the sacrifices she had made to achieve her goals… useless...

When the pandemic hit, I was in the middle of teaching second-semester seniors who had started college when Trump was elected president and were ending it during a level of unemployment not seen since the Great Depression. Though none said it -- at least not to me -- I wouldn't fault them at all for sharing Eugenia's sentiments: “It’s not my fault all you older idiots voted for the wrong president! I wasn’t even eighteen when that potato stole his first term. You killed this world, and now I am expected to whore in it?” We've certainly left a hell of a world for our children.

3 1/2 stars, which I'm raising to 4 for what I say in the paragraph above. I really hope things will be different in the United States after November.

[Pisces · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2stars

Expression excited, she blurted, “I want to walk on the shore.”
With nothing but adoration shining from his eyes, he refused, “No.”

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I couldn't grasp the depth of their relationship nor connect, for it was written completely lyrical.
However, for better or for worse, this melodic tone helped the plot to be stagnant. So, as a reader, I was forgiving enough to overlook certain aspect.

But, At the same time, I felt the awaited climax was underdone, like how the needed narration, to support the claims and details of such and such, still remained under the veil. Having said that; I 💯 adored the heroine, for me her character really enhance the story.

swear to god, I thought this was just another of the same. So, this review is literally the epitome of how I should go less with the negative reviews and more with my own instinct🤍

So should you!

Ciao

[natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love stories that take place in a dystopic setting and Addison Cain is amazing at world building, so I decided to read the book. I bought the book prior to the page count being published in the description, the book is ten dollars Canadian for a 189 page book. I was disappointed at the price point and I don't think it is value for the money. According to the author, the story was written in three weeks and it actually reads like a story written in three weeks. The book is short and there isn't a lot of world building or character development. Ultimately, I really didn't like the characters, especially the female lead. The male lead falls in love with her but his reasons are never explored nor does he verbalize them. The readers is to believe the male lead is in love because the author tells them he is in love, instead of writing scenes to explain his love. I find this really lazy writing. They argue for most of the book but they don't really argue about anything much and the arguments don't seem to resolve anything, more like a power struggle. I suppose her challenging him makes her the strong women, but really it just reads like they annoyed each other. I struggled to finish the book.

[Copper78 · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was such a strange and pointless read. The heroine is annoying AF and there is no chemistry between her and the truly bizarre hero. The whole dystopian world also made no sense and there was no sense of wanting to improve the greater situation at all. Only for the hero to make this one weird boat into his own fucked up society. I didn't like one thing about this story, or the characters, there is no plot, no purpose at all other than for this one "strong" heroine to be "broken" by this "alpha male" and turned into his breeding concubine and to be grateful for the opportunity. Which does end up happening. Ugh. No thanks.

[Оля (hiatus) *** · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main heroine annoyed me throughout the entire book.

[Preeti ♥︎ Her Bookshelves · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*
Darkish and left me uncomfortable for what happens to the other women on board. The h, imo, had it pretty good and pretty safe, considering. In fact, pretty pampered.

*Major spoilers*Post-apocalyptic Earth. A nuclear war this time.
Few pockets of 'livable' regions that reek of a dying civilization, scarce resources, lawlessness and a dog eats dog order. Of course, we know women would be at the lowest rungs here and certain to be abused and degraded into commodities.
The h was a brilliant medical student from an affluent family with a loving fiancee, when the bomb dropped - literally. That was six years ago and she must be in her mid to late twenties now and she has used her intelligence to survive thus far - before she gets captured by the H and his band of thugs.
Now the 'H' is a loose term, going by AC traditions. This 41 yo guy, a former professor (we learn later) is running a tight ship - literally. He's commandeered an ocean liner and it's docked somewhere up the Mississippi and he has created a cold, chilling but functional society where everyone has a role and rules are not meant to be broken - or the penalty is high. Very high.

Men work for money/tickets/favors and women entertain, read whore themselves openly (literally openly/publicly i.e.) for tickets/freedom. 'Comfort sluts' in a game that's already 'rigged', as the h says. So, it's basically a cult, a structured society that has no place for personal wishes, emotions or indiscipline, and to the 'Captain''s mind he's saving the human civilization for the future. Because women have another use as well - breeding.
I hated how women had no control over their bodies or lives. The men, too but at least for them their sexuality or sexual desires are theirs alone.

So, I thoroughly hated how the h gets away with being a snarky, contrary rebel for six months. Why she's allowed to be so independent when others are not. Maybe the other women cowed/bowed down to the inevitable sooner but still...
Also, what are the odds that the h could remain a V till now? Earlier she had a fiancee she adored but they only indulged in non-penetrative sex. Why I don't know but even post- apo, all alone, she manages to remain untouched? She says she bartered other stuff rather than sex. I don't think, men would've been asking permission. And she's supposed to extraordinarily beautiful.

She's plainly suffering from survivor's guilt and is in denial about the changed world. The very smitten H declares his love but she shies away from him and his darkness. So, he employs his cruel-to-be-kind ways to make her realize that she has to change as well. And that change involves accepting him, his world and his way.

It's unfair that since the H falls for her, they'll live as a happy cozy couple which no one else is allowed to...
Still, an engrossing read.

[Naia Pard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I should not be writing a review for this book. What am I doing?

I don't think that you can get what happens in this book solely from that description from the beginning.

This is the wild West. What is going on?

I have to admit that it was the first book in which the bad guy stood for his reasons and did not back up by changing the facts at his convenience.

The writing of AC gets better and better. I am almost scared to find out what she will came up with, in five years from now.

It is indeed a novel set in dystopian world, but that context is used differently than you would normally expect. Here, being in a dystopian world helps with the reasoning. A lot of things that undergo in here wouldn't have passed lightly to the eye of the now-reader if the setting would have been in our own present.

[Seikai · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh, ok, this was a strange one. While the smut was hot, the story's morals and point of view it was trying to push was WAY too misogynistic and whack for my preference. Like, it actually outraged me.

So basically, the world went post apocalyptic, and our heroine used to be a "super smart" med student who never got to fully graduate, and constantly whines in a post apocalyptic world about how she was so close to graduating, but the whole world basically ended. She somehow manages to stay alive and escape rape for YEARS (thereby preserving her virginity for the hero to take later in the story), despite literally every other woman in this story immediately being raped anywhere in this world. Now don't get me wrong, I would think it's very possible for a smart girl with valuable medical skills to be lucky and find groups of people who aren't rapist serial killers to help protect her and band together. But apparently that's not what happened. She had been traveling mostly alone, and was escaping rape attempts left and right (with no clarification of how she did these miraculous houdini escapes). Her luck runs out when the story begins (because it's gotta be dumb luck at this point, as we will see that she doesn't actually have very good survival skills, combat self defense skills, or even display good medical knowledge that saves lives). She is betrayed by a guy she partnered up with, and they both get kidnapped and enslaved onto this giant dystopian slaver ship. Our "hero" of the story is the leader of this ship, who is trying to create a closed off society where the men are raiders that make excursions back and forth from the boat, and the women are all basically deadweight prostitutes or breeding cows used only for the men's pleasure or for offspring, with an entire caste system going.

Now, the dystopian premise is kind of interesting. There was promise there. I expected a setup where we would see our heroine challenge this misogynistic tyrant hero on his idea that all women they find are deadweight that need to be protected, then used entirely as breeding stock. Being a doctor who has medical knowledge to SAVE HIS CREW despite not having manly muscles and physical strength would be an incredibly easy way to show directly that this guy is full of shit. Women CAN and DO have value outside of just being a hole to screw, even if they might not be as muscle filled and bulked up. Did I get that from the story? No. Sadly. It's a tragedy what the story missed out on. Basically, our heroine never barters to trade her medical skills for favors or tickets (basically currency on the ship, which girls use to buy their freedom, and guys use to buy women for prostitution). WHY EVEN BOTHER SAYING SHE HAS MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE IF SHE HARDLY USES IT. At most, it's brought up a few times as comedy when she whines about things being unclean or unsanitary, which while true, confuses me, since the world turned dystopian not THAT long ago. People there should have some idea of sanitization.

Our heroine is the only woman on this ship that we really see who objects to the hero's system, and wants to find a better place outside of the ship she got kidnapped onto. Later in the story, she pushed for another girl to leave, resulting in tragedy for that girl (of course), and the story tries to point out that the heroine was too naive and idealistic and was the indirect cause of that girl's suffering. Despite the hero knowing that false information was given, and knowing what would happen, he lets it happen so "the heroine will see where her idealism of leaving the ship leads". This asshole knowingly enslaved these women, prostituting them and getting free "services" from them, then when they finally buy back their freedom, lets them go thinking false safety zones are true, so they will get brutalized and "realize how good it is back on the ship" and return. And this is all played straight like he's the "realist" who is just trying to keep everyone safe. All other women in this story basically scorn the heroine's idealism and refusal to submit and prostitute herself. One even tries to KILL her the first day she's taken in because she sees her as competition. Several get pissed off because they're swooning over the "hero" and he shows favoritism towards the heroine, with one EVEN TRYING TO KILL HERSELF when they find out he's in love with her. This same turd has these "cream of the crop" prostitutes service him on daily rotation for free, because he's the captain of the ship and must distribute his affection fairly among all these women. BARF. I appreciated that our heroine didn't buy into that for most of the book, and limited her forced time with him to conversational jousting. But then near the end she just... gives in to him. During a time when she got pissed off and decided to finally start prostituting herself for tickets. Which again I don't get. If she wanted tickets, she could get them bartering other skill sets. Medical care, tutoring, conversation partner, chess partner, etc. Why does it always loop back to "women must sell their bodies to provide anything of value"?

The ending just made me upset. She tries to sneak off the ship, because the "hero" literally made it impossible for her to leave by buying her own freedom (deeming her freedom price at 20 million tickets). But she, being an idiot, had time to make plans on how she might survive outside, but never bothered doing that. She just leaves without supplies or shoes or anything, eats a bunch of crap in the wilderness raw, gets sick, and gets kidnapped back and saved by the hero. In the end, she's basically his exclusive breeding stock that gets super special treatment because she's his, and she's ok with it, and it's a happy ending. She is sad knowing that literally every other woman on board is being raped and will eventually be relegated to level 9 where they are just constantly pregnant and being breed. But in the end, the hero knows best and is just protecting everyone. And hey, she's super special, so it's all good.

[Sky- A hopeless romantic girl :D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it so much and did'nt want it to end. I was so into it that i read it one sitting. 😍

Re-read april/2024 - reduced it to 4 stars. Its really amazing how a person can change, how their taste changes. On my first read i was super impressed and on my second i could see all the flaws and didnt felt as in love as i was first time around with the book. I didn't remember anything except feeling great when i first read it. So i went through the whole book like it was my first time. Sigh it had great potential but like the author said herself she wrote it way too fast for it to be well developed.

[warhawke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Dystopian Romance
Type: Standalone
POV: Third Person
Rating:




It’s been six years since the war broke and Eugenia tried her best to survive the harsh new world. Her goal to a safe place was halted when she came across an unlikely community led by Aaron Kingston. But what looked like a perfect haven from the outside hid dark secrets she wished she never saw the lights.



This book had potentials, but the execution led it down. I liked the world the author created, but needed more background to establish the story. My biggest issue was the rough flow. At times I wasn’t sure what was going on because scenes jumped around recklessly.

I liked Eugenia initially, but that quickly changed to annoyance due to her holier-than-thou attitude. I liked Aaron, though I wished his character was stronger.

Swallow It Down is a story of survival. It might appeal to readers looking for dystopian romance.





💀⛓️💀 . . . (F)BR with Twinsie CC . . . 💀⛓️💀




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[Serialbookstarter:Marla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Captain- Aaron and Eugenia

I’m on a dystopian binge and this was so much better than I expected from the title.. which to my mind doesn’t fit the story. There’s been a nuclear holocaust. This book starts 6 years after. Eugenia was in Harvard Med. She is the daughter of scientist. She’s managed to survive the horrors of a post apocalyptic world for 6 years with very little contact with others.its mentioned she’s escaped many times from men who would rape her. She’s feels sorry for this guy John and takes him on as they look for freshwater and a better place. They come upon a cruise ship In a lake off the Mississippi River. John turns on her and offers to sell her to the Captain. However the captain already has his own micro society of 300 people and he has rules. There are only 24 or so women. The men work for carnival tickets which are the currency to be able to fraternize with the women on level 15 of the ship. There’s too many rules to go Into but the women have to be agreeable for sexual encounter… and they get paid in tickets too. Anyway Eugenia is placed on level 15 and she refuses to go along with the program Aaron has created. This book is about her feminist mindset going against a reversion of culture back to the way it was way back when. Aaron and Eugenia clash and then banter. I liked the world building. It was a bit like TWD minus the zombies—with Aaron- The Captain as a less douche bag and less violent Governor.

[Cc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Addison Cain (mostly, lol), so it's a given I'd like this. My favorite genre..........shall we call it, hmmmmm.............angsty cheaty hero jerk who puts poor heroine through hell and then makes it all better again, maybe...........has been thin on the ground lately. So I'm reading lots of things. Some have been surprise hits, like a Nora Roberts and some haven't. But AC is always a good bet.

[Cécile Smits · Rating 4 out of 5]

Addison Cain is one of those authors that i always look forward to hearing from.
Especially when she springs a surprise like this on me....
A story that’s different from the others,but just as delicious.
Set in a post apocalyptic world,it shows how people survive.
What lessons are learnt,and how best to move forward.

Eugenia was studying medicine before it all went wrong.
She tried to help people,but in the end she gave up.
Because of how she was treated in return.
But she’s sure there ís a place where she belongs.
And she’s determined to find it.
With or without the help of her new travel companion.
Only,that travel companion has other plans,and he manages to lead her to them.
When she finds out,it’s too late,and trying to run only gets her dragged back to the one place she doesn’t want to be.

The luxury,though...damn the luxury!
The airconditioning,the running water,and the soft bed....
She is determined nót to get used to it all and find a way out ASAP.
Especially when she finds out what is expected of her in return of said luxury.
Entertaining men,being treated as less than them,it makes her angry.
Finding out where she’ll probably end up,thát’s even worse!
But Aaron,the captain of the ship, teaches her a harsh lesson,one she hates him for.

Being forced to spend time with him,shows his true colors.
She fights his beliefs until she’s blue in the face,but he won’t budge.
He will listen,but his way is the right way.
He dóes admire her spirit,though,and enjoys her company.
If only he could convince her life on his ship is better than out there...before she finds a way to escape.

While i could understand Eugenia,her dreams and hopes,she wás a bit naive...
Even though she’d experienced reality out there,she still had hope of finding a place she could’ve known didn’t exist.
And Aaron’s way wás a harsh way,using the women to breed.
With no real relationships,no love in their future.

How much do these two influence eachother’s beliefs?
Is there a compromise possible?
Is there any light in this darkness?

This was a very intriguing story,a story that was dark,that had it’s triggers.
But it was a story i really enjoyed reading.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

*possible spoilers*
I really love Addison Cain but... this story was just not for me. The forced breeding was icky. Especially in terms of how it’s insinuated as continuous and never ending for these woman.
I’ve read Cain’s omegaverse series and enjoyed them but this story was too much. Written as an apocalyptic tale, woman have (stereotypically...again) succumbed to being helpless, breeding vessels. And men are baseless animals. I understand this in terms of omegaverse because that is the rules set in that universe but for one so close to our own? It is unsettling and quite frankly unappealing.
I love a good sexy, alpha male tale... but this guy doesn’t have it. Honestly I’m not even sure why the main H is in charge. Because he was once rich? Because he once had a politician father? Oh yes, in this corrupt, debauchery, vagrant world this logic makes perfect sense.
Also, do these stories always have to result in woman being pregnant? Especially in this fashion? Essentially once done being whores for the “crew “ of this ship they have no choice but to become brood mares. At one point one woman who leaves the ship faces the harsh reality of this violence exaggerated world (that which has somehow been protected from the main character for many years- otherwise known as convenient plot armor). This woman comes back mutilated with the inclusion of a female circumcision (only a few days later). The decision to return therefore forcing her to become a brood mare and slave on this ship. This horrific abuse (again that the main h somehow avoided for years and years) somehow showcasing that life as a lifeless birthing vessel the only better option right?
I really wish she could move past the idea that sex has to result in babies. Especially revolving in such violent manner.
I’m only giving 2.5 stars because as always Cain’s writing draws you in like no other.

[Darkreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Swallow it Down Addison Cain introduces us to a post-apocalyptic world that nightmares are made of and an unlikely couple that find complicated love in the midst of death and destruction. I absolutely loved this story and might even go so far as to say that it's one my absolute favorites by Ms. Cain. Eugenia is an amazing heroine - strong, smart and capable yet with a romantic soul and a vulnerable and slightly naive heart. Aaron is a very complicated character who pushes every boundary and certainly doesn't have many qualms about doing whatever he has to to get what he wants, be it Eugenia or ensuring survival in this new world. The chemistry between these two characters is apparent from the very beginning. But I appreciated the fact that Addison really built up to the climax (pun intended:) of their relationship. The struggle that Eugenia endures as she battles both Aaron and her own feelings felt very real and heartbreaking. Aaron had some very heartbreaking moments of his own, though they were not as apparent as Eugenia's, they were even more poignant in some ways. The cast of side characters is very well developed and I wouldn't mind getting some of their stories. In true Addison Cain fashion, we get thrown quite a few twists and OMG moments that I absolutely loved. Aside from the brutal yet beautiful love story, this is the kind of book that will make you think about morality, right and wrong and how all those lines get blurred for the sake of survival. I feel like I could go on and on about how much I loved this book, but I will wrap this up by saying that it's an absolute must for any fan of Ms. Cain's writing!